Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-08-27
OLIVE CULTURE.
SOMETHING CONCERNING THIS
BRANCH OF HORTICULTURE.
Planting and Cultivation of the
Trees-Making Olive Oil and
Picked Olives.

Vi OliNe tTtSs anu lHe Hldllildclure OF inc
product into oil, etc:
The olive tree is reproduced in different
ways: by the seed by the simple cutting,
by the ramified cutting, by suckers that
shoot from the trunk, and by the woody
eXcrescences which form on the bark of the
upper roots of old trees.
Let us begin with the reproduction by
the seed
1t must be first understood that an olive
tree so grown has TO be grated, as it would
otherwise remain a wild tree, giving thus
but a poor and small product On the
other hand it is well known that through
the medium OF seed tree is more vigor-
Gus, has more lasting power, resists better
cold weather, and is less delicate on the
choice of soil than those grown from cut
tings. For all such reasons this is the
mode most generally in use in the olive
regions of Europe.
But when the olive tree is so robust by
nature, so little scrupulous with regard to
the choice of soil, enjoys such remarkable
longevity, and has no excessive cold
weather to fear in California, should it be
raised by us from the seed instead of the
cutting, when by the first mode we have
to wait ten or twelve years for the product,
as against four or five years by the second =?
Moreover grating, which becomes IN
dispensable when the tree is raised from
the seed, giving it thus additional vigor,
can just as well, if so desired, be applied
TO the tree grown from the cutting without
losing thereby the advantages derived from
this last mode of reproduction.
Coutance, who pronounces himself in
favor of the seed, tells us that the plant
has to remain at least seven years in nur-
sery, and that after being grated it re-
quires three more years before it begins to
bear fruit
Reynaud tells us also that he has seen in
France, in the county of Ardeche, as also
at Cannes and in the Hyera islands, olive
trees raised from seed; that they were ready
to he grated, but that this result had
required seven years. He, however, adds
that the reproduction Of the tree by seed
has been found so slow that it seems puerile
to have recourse to it.
Amoureux affirms that this method is
of an excessive slownesS and of very little
practical use.
Charles Etienne and Liebault concur in
saying that it is time and money lost to
SLHplON ILLS lcluOu.
In Elwood Cooper's treatise on olive
culture We also find that when the tree is
raised from seed it has to remain seven
years in the nursery, but that when grown
from the cutting it bears as early in Europe
as it does in California.
Riondet explains to us how the Young
olive tree, raised from seed, develops al
ways long tap-root, which constitutes its
principle and often its only support; and
that when transplantiug it to a permanent
site, after long stay in the nursery, the
cutting of said tap-root, then becomes
indispensable, inhicts upon its system a
serious injury from which it is likely to
suffer for years.
1t seems thus established that the olive
tree grown from the seed-which is the
method most generally followed in the
| regions Of Europe where the severe winters
experienced occasionally make it desirable
to render the tree as hardy as possible
to be Kept about seven years in nursery
and that at its transportation il will ex-
perience severe check which will be the
natural result of meddling with its tap
root, as also of cutting back its top. b
Is II then at all surprising that halt
generation should pass before the olive tree
so produced reaches bearing? Many people
who have not carefully studied olive cult
IRE seem to believe that this is an ineyi-
table result. We shall see by further ex-
| plantations that it is not
| Let us pass now to the consideration of
the propagation of the olive by cuttings.
We would state in common with Coutance,
| Amoureux, Riondet, DuBreuil, Reynaud
/ and Al hot
from an olive tree that has been grated,
and of good variety, needs no grating.
| This operation is however necessary when
the cutting from grated tree is derived
from point below the place where graft
ing was effected.
| These cuttings can be made ike those of
vine or any other cutting, only with this
difference, that the olive tree being an
evergreen, one or more sets of leaves should
be left on.
1t is difficult safely to cut the large trun-
cheons, because, when taken from the tree.
or even when cut a little to freshen the
butt-end at plantation, there is danger of
crushing the bark, which has the effect of
importing their starting, and which, should
they grow, may produce rot To plant
them directly in permanent sites is to run
the risk of losing great many, as has
happened to several parties | could name.
If, on the other hand, they are placed in
nursery in preference to much smaller cut
tings, their tap-root will be so developed.
even only after year of stay therein, that
| 1t will be necessary to cut it back when
they are to be transplsnted, which will re-
duce their ultimate chances of growth, and
will at least make them languid and sicklv
for q year or two. But the smaller the
cuttings are when placed in the nursery.
the less will be the chances at transporta-
ton within year of disturbing their root
system, which will necessarily be less de-
veloped.
These smaller cuttings, from six to eight
inches long, are generally raised in boxes
under glass, where they take very readily :
or in open ground in nursery when from
eight to twelve inches long: but there
their growth is very precarious. When
ready for transportation within year the
whole root system can be taken with the
soil adhering to it and placed in the
ground without disturbing it, and especi-
ally without exposing it to the air.
consider this last point of great i'm
portance, for it is well known that all
evergreen trees, whose vegetation is nearly
always active, are of very difficult trans
plantation. The slightest exposure of
| their roots to the air renders the starting
in their new places very doubtful ANY
one who has had occasion to transplant
eucalyptus, laurels, orange trees, etc, must
be acquainted with this fact.
In support of this theory I extract the
following from recent article of the
Phoenix Herald, giving few sensible hints
on the setting out of an orange orchard:
The greatest care must be exercised in
transplanting the orange not to allow the
small thread-like roots of the tree to be-
come dry, for the moment they do so the tree
Is gone. The roots must be carefully damp
ened till the tree is safe in the ground.
This Is one of the most important items to
be observed in transplanting."
The olive is just as delicate to handle as
the orange tree, so that the older it is and
the more developed its root system. the
more danger it presents in transportation.
when even the most careful precautions
VIII not always secure success.
The small trees, when one year old. will
develop with astonishing vigor when
planted in their permanent sites; their
tap-roots will sink rapidly; they will stand,
without suffering drought and hot weather,
and not more than one in every two or three